JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Fowler family is suing the Florida Department of Children and Families after a fire last year took the lives of a 53-year-old grandmother and three of her grandchildren -- all under the age of 5.
There is nothing left of the mobile home that once stood where Sheila Swearingen and her grandchildren -- 10-month-old Janet Fowler, 2-year-old Rachel Fowler, and 4-year-old Richard "Bubba" Fowler Jr. -- died on Palmetto Street in Oceanway in June 2014.
One child, 8-year-old Hattie Fowler (pictured below), survived the terrible fire, which was ruled accidental. She was 6 years old at the time and was rescued by a 13-year-old neighbor who was riding by on his bicycle.
Attorney Josh Woolsey is representing the family in the lawsuit, which filed in state court against DCF and two of its employees, Reginald Brady and Bruce Perry.
"I handle a lot of traumatic cases and this is one of the most heartbreaking cases that I've handled," Woolsey said. "We have three kids under the age of 5 that lost her life, a fourth child 6 at the time, now 8, who will have emotional distress for the rest of her life."
Hattie was hospitalized, but released the next day. Although she has no physical scars, she is coping with something she will never forget.
"She's just the cutest, sweetest little girl, and we hope that we're able to, when this case is over, make sure she gets the counseling and therapy that she needs to be able to -- you can never recover from this -- but to be able to move forward," Woolsey said.
Woolsey said Brady and Perry are being named specifically in the lawsuit because they have the most knowledge and information about the case.
"They were the ones that really could have easily prevented this from happening," he said.
According to Woolsey, DCF originally started assisting the Fowlers in May 2014 when Jennifer Fowler, the children's mother, was in jail. Two days before the fire, Richard Fowler, the children's father, was arrested. At that point DCF put the children in the care of their grandfather, who lived in a different house than his wife, Sheila Swearingen.
Woolsey said the day before the fire, Brady approved for the children to live with Swearingen at the mobile home.
"The most outrageous part, reckless part, about their decision is that when they approved the grandmother taking the children over there, they knew -- we have their notes -- they knew she was a convicted sex offender," Woolsey said.
But he said that's not the only troubling part.
"When you pull her criminal report that shows she violated her sex offender probation, in that violation of the probation case, she was determined to be criminally and legally insane, which is such a high standard. There were letters from doctors, and they're talking about her mental health issues," Woolsey said. "It's unacceptable for an organization like DCF whose job it is to protect these kids."
A similar case took five years to close, but Woolsey is hoping to resolve this case sooner than that, so the family has closure. They are seeking at least $15,000 in damages, but Woolsey hopes a jury sets the damages much higher.
DCF officials said the agency will not comment on pending litigation.
Richard Fowler told News4Jax by phone that he has faith in the attorney. He said he is taking the loss of his children day by day.